Tara Conklin

Conklin has published short fiction in the collection Pangea: An Anthology of Stories from Around the Globe and the Bristol Prize Anthology.[11]

Her debut novel, The House Girl, was an Apple Books bestseller,[7][8] an iBooks bestseller,[9] and a New York Times bestseller.[2][3][6]

Jane Henriksen Baird wrote in a starred review for Library Journal, "...the author slowly builds a suspenseful and dramatic revelation of their deep connection across the decades. Conklin's debut is a seamless juxtaposition of past and present, of the lives of two women, and of the redemptive nature of art and the search for truth and justice. Guaranteed to keep readers up long past their bedtimes".[12] Publishers Weekly published a critical review, noting, "Alternating between Lina and Josephine, this novel is unfortunately trite, predictable, and insensitive at its core: the lives of a 19th-century black slave and a 21st-century white lawyer are not simply comparable but mutually revealing, fodder for healing".[13] Kirkus Reviews said, "while Conklin clearly knows her way around the legal world, her lawyer, Lina, comes across more as a sketch than a portrait, and the choices she makes are boringly predictable".[14] Booklist had a favorable assessment: "Stretching back and forth across time and geography, this riveting tale is bolstered by some powerful universal truths".[15]

The Last Romantics was Publishers Weekly bestseller[10] and a New York Times bestseller.[4][5] Jenna Bush Hager selected The Last Romantics for her #ReadwithJenna program.[16]

Melissa Norstedt of Booklist wrote, "Despite spanning almost a century, The Last Romantics never feels rushed. Conklin places readers in the center of the Skinner family, moving back and forth in time and allowing waves of emotion to slowly uncurl. Perfectly paced, affecting fiction".[17] Moira Macdonald of The Seattle Times wrote that The Last Romantics is "a book that beautifully understands its characters".[18] Publishers Weekly said, "The accomplished second novel... throws a few unexpected twists into the well-worn story of evolving relationships among siblings".[19] However, Kirkus Reviews called The Last Romantics "...basically a lukewarm turn-of-the-21st-century family melodrama despite the intermittent, never adequately integrated references to a future wracked by climate change".[20] Library Journal noted structural problems in the novel.[21]

Publishers Weekly called Community Board "quirky but undercooked".[22] Jane Harper of Booklist said Conklin "delivers a winning third novel".[23] Kirkus Reviews wrote favorably of the novel: "Conklin has created a heartening look at a community whose people realize they're better together than alone".[24]